Multiple-brush selector.



E. B. CRAFT & J. N. REYNOLDS.

MULTIPLE BRUSH SELECTOR.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 29, 1912.

1,123,696, Patented Jan.5, 1915.

//7 ve mo/s J EdwardBC/wffi W/MQSSQ 5 Jo /m /V. Reyna/d5, by a7 A171 UNITED sTA Es PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD B. CRAFT, E HACKENSACK, NEW JERSEY, AND JOHN 1v. REYNoLDs, 0E GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNORS T0 wEsTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, or NEW YoRK, 1v. Y., A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

MUL'J I IPLE-BRUSH SELECTOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 5, 1915.

Application filed November 29, 1912. Serial No. 734,032.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that we, EDWARD l3. CRAFT and JOHN N. REYNOLDS, citizens of the United States, residing at Hackensack, in

v the county of Bergen and State of New J ersey, and Greenwich, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, respectively, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Multiple-Brush Selectors, of which the following is a full, clear, concise. and exact description.

This invention relates to switching apparatus for use in automatic and semi-auto matic exchange systems, and more particularly to those switches in which electromagnetically controlled devices are employed, and is adapted for use either as a selector or as a connector.

The principal object of this invention re sides in the improved means whereby the activity of the brush sets is selectively controlled.

Other objects and advantages will appear as the description of the invention progresses.

By means of this invention a switch is provided by which a large number of lines may be accurately and rapidly served, and whereby any line may be reached through one of'a plurality of multiply connected sets of brushes on a common brush shaft, each set having access to a particular group of lines only. For this purpose there is provided a panel board upon which a plurality of vertical rows of sets of stationary terminals are mounted, each row being divided into sections and each section having a set of cooperating normally inactive movable brushes individual thereto, all the corresponding brushes of the several sets having access to the same row being connected in multiple. These rows of terminals may be multipled horizontally across the panel to be accessible to as many individual switch ing mechanisms as may be necessary-to handle the greatest number of simultaneous the shaft.

cess to the section containing the desiredline terminals to be released' to engage the stationary terminals and then causing said set to traverse the terminals in the row until the terminals of the desired line are reached.

In the embodiment of the invention herein shown all of the brush carriers are fixed to the brush shaft tomove therewith. A set of brushes is secured to each brush carrier by means of laterally flexible spring arms. Certain of these arms have cam portions arranged to be engaged by rollers of insulating material at one end of a bell crank lever whereby the brushes are forced laterally to a position to pass by the stationary terminals without engagement therewith. One of these brush controlling levers is individual to each brush set and is pivotally secured to the brush Carrier im-. mediately below the brush supporting arms in such a manner that when the inwardly extending free end of the lever occupies a horizontal position, the other end will project upwardly and the rollers of insulating material will engage the cam portions and force the brushes to their retracted or inactive position. The brushes are retained in their. inactive position at all times, except during conversation or when a connection is being made, when one set of brushes and only one is tripped.

A brush selecting or tripping device is provided which is adapted to engage the brush controlling lever of the desired brush set to release the brushes and allow them,

upon movement of the brush shaft, to trav erse the stationary terminalsof their section while the other sets of brushes remain in their inoperative position but move with This brush selecting means comprises an auxiliary or brush selecting rod mounted on the frame parallel to the brush shaft, said rod being provided with a series of inwardly projecting fingers, one for each brush set, arranged at progressively increasing distances above the normal positions of their respective brush controlling levers. These trip fingers normally extend slightly to one side of the line of travel of the levers,

means being provided whereby the trip rod may be momentarily rotated to cause the fingers to intercept such line of travel.

Thus, it will be seen that if during the upward movement of the brush shaft,-at the instant the controlling lever of any desired brush occupies a position slightly below the engaging portion of its respective trip finger, the trip rod is momentarily rotated to its tripping position, one of the trip fingers of the .rod will engage the lever of the desired brush set .whereby lever will be rotated, and the brushes by reason of the resiliency of their supporting arms will assume their operative position.

For a more detailed description of the invention reference is now made to the ac- .companying draw ngs 1n wh1ch,- u

F igurel is a side elevation our switching devices with parts Fig. 2 is a sectional view on theline 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 1; Fig. 1 is an enlarged side elevation of one'of the brush sets and the controlling device therefor; Fig.5 is a of one of perspective view of one of the brush controlling levers; Figs. 6 and 7 are a side elevation and a plan view, the tripping device in its operative position; Figs. 8 and 9-are similar views of the same after-the brushes have been tripped.

The switch here disclosed is designed to serve five hundred lines, the terminals .of which are divided into sections of one hundred each, and are duplicated on the oppo: site side of the board so as to be accessible to the brushes on each side thereof, as shown in Fig. 3.- It is obvious, however, that the capacity of this switch may be increased by providing a greater number of sectionsand a correspondingly greater number of brushes, or by arranging more ter minals in each section.

In order to avoid needless duplication of the parts and to more clearly illustrate the parts of the apparatus claimed as our invention, only one switching device with four sets of brushes and a portion of a bank of stationary terminals is shown on the drawing. It is to be understood, however, that the tions only.

' stationar; terminal' section.

stationaryterminals are arranged in sets of three each as shown in Fig.3, and that there are one hundred of such sets in each section a set of three brushes 1, 2,3 and 4 are pro vided, 2 and 3 being in efl'ect one brush, adapted to engage all the sets of stationary terminals 5, 6 and 7 in their respective sec- Each individual switching apparatus comprises a brush shaft 8 'slidably'mounted in the guide sleeves 9,'secured in the frame members 10. Upon the shaft are secured a plurality of brush'car'riers 11, one'for each These brush carriers consist of plates 12 and 13. The plate 13 has a vertical slot adjacent to the-shaft 8 through which extends a hookthe controlling I broken away respectively, of

section shaped projection 14 on the plate 12. The

18 and 19, respectively. These arms are rigidly secured to the plate 13 'of the brush carrier by the screws 20, and are insulated from each other and from the brush carrier by the plates of insulation 21. These arms by their resiliency tend to urge the brushes 1 and 2 toward the brushes3 and 4 and vice versa." Each of the arms lfiand 19 carries a block of insulating material 22 whereby the brushes of each pair are held in spaced relation as shown in Fig. 3. Thus, it will be seen that the brushes 1 to the brushes 3 and 4 and that when the brush set is released or tripped, the brush 1 will engage the terminal 5, the brushes 2 and 3 will engage the terminal 6 on opposite sides thereof, and brush a will engage the terminal 7. Each of the brush arms has an upward extension 23- ending. in the soldering terminal 66 as shown most Extending'backwardly from the clamping member 13 of each brush carrier, immediately below the brush is an integral arm 24.. This arm is offset adjacent to the brush carrier and has at theclearly in Fig. 41'

supporting arms,

and 2 are opposed 29, each being provided at its upper end with arm'of this lever consists of the trip lug '31 which. projects rearwardly in a position to a roller 30 of insulating material. The other be engaged by the tripping device and the restoring member 32 which extends laterally and rearwardly as shown in Fig. 5 fora purpose to be'hereinafter disclosed.

The brush arms- 17 and 18 are bent to form converging cam members 33 and the substantially-parallel portions 34:. In the normal inactive position of the brush set the rollers 30 engage the inner surfaces of these parallel portions whereby the brushes are held in their retracted position as shown in- Fig: 3. In orderto insure the retention of the brush-controlling levers in their operative position, each of the brush arms 17 and 18 is provided at the juncture of the cam member 33 and the portion 3f1'withan in;

wardly projecting lug 35.

. Rotatably secured in the frame parallel to.

the shaft is the brush selecting trip rod 37.

Secured on thelfod are a plurality of sleeves 38, one for each set of brushes. A slot 39 is formed in each sleeve to receive the pin 40 on the rod, whereby the rotation of the sleeves on the rod is limited. This pin also serves to prevent longitudinal movement of the sleeves on the rod. Springs 41 are provided each having one end secured to a pin 40 and the other end to one of said sleeves, respectively, in such a manner as to normally tend to rotate the sleeves in a clockwise direction as viewed from above. EX- tending outwardly from each sleeve 38 is a trip finger 42 having a right angularly projecting end 43 at the upper edge thereof. These lingers are normally in alinement with their ends slightly back of the line of travel of the trip lugs, as shown in Fig. 3, and also in dotted lines in Fig. 7, and are arranged at progressively increasing distances above the normal positions of their respective trip lugs. It will now be seen that, if the shaft is moved upwardly until the trip lug of the controlling lever of any desired brush set occupies a position opposite its respective trip finger, and the trip rod is then rotated, the trip finger individual to the selected set will engage its respective trip lug, and the right angular projection 43 will pass above said lug and will be retained in the line of travel thereof, the rod turning in theisleeve 38/ The other trip fingers will not engage their respective lugs at this time,'being positioned either above or below the same respectively, but will pass through the line of travel of the said lugs to the other side thereof as shown in solid lines in Fig. 9. Upon the continued upward movement of the brush shaft, the brush controlling lever will be rotated and the brushes will be forced to their operative position by their resilient supporting arms and the trip lug passing from contact with the trip finger, as shown in Fig. 8, will allow the tripfinger to be rotated to a position in ahnement'with the other trip fingers by its spring 41. When the brush shaft has passed beyondits brush selectingstage, the trip magnet 45 will be deenergized and the trip rod will be returned to its normal position.

Upon the lower end of the rod 37 is a disk 46 having at one side thereof a downwardly projecting pin 47. Loosely engaging the pin is the endof a right angular extension 48 on the lever 49; This lever is pivotally mounted at 50 and carries at one side there of the armature 51 of the electromagnet 45. Thus it will be seen that upon the energizetionpfthe electromagnet the rod 37 will be caused to turn a fraction of a revolution. For-the purpose of returning-the rod to its normal position a spring 52 is provided hav ing' one end secured to"the side of the disk 46 normally adjacent to the brush shaft and the other end fixed to an car 53 carried by lugs, only the finger related to the desired brush will be engaged by a trip lug, as the other trip fingers immediately pass to the other side of the line of travel of the said lugs. At this'time someof the trip lugs will-lie above and some below their respective trip fingers or all may lie above or all below, depending upon which of the several brush sets are selected. The upward movement of the shaft may be continued until the desired brush terminals are reached.

Means are provided for elevating the brush shaft at different speeds and also for returning it by power to its normal position.

Each ofthese means comprises a constantly rotating drive pulley and an electromagnetically operated idler pulley corresponding thereto. As these several power means are 7 substantially the same both in structure and general operation, only the low speed elevating device will be described in detail and the differences of the others therefrom will be hereinafter pointed out.

The low speed device comprises a pulley 54 mounted on a constantly rotating shaft 55 and an electromagnetically operated idler pulley 56 on the opposite side of the shaft. This pulley is mounted on the upper end of the lever 57 which is pivotally secured to the frame member 58 and to the lever 59 by the pivot pin 60. A stop pin 61 is provided on the lever 59 to limit the relative movement of the two levers. A spring 62 is provided having one" end secured to the lower end of the lever 57 and the other to a downwardly projecting lug 67 on the outer end of the lever 59, thus tending to retain the lever 57 in engagement with the stop pin 61. On one side of the lever 59 is an armature 63 and in operative relation thereto are the pole p eces 64 of the electromagnet 6'5.

Thus it will be seen that upon the energization of the magnet 65 power will be transmittedthrough the lever 59, spring 62, and

g the return drive mechanism are, as previously stated, the same in operation and structure as the one just described, the same reference characters with the sufiixes and respectively, have been applied to corresponding parts of these devices'and the last previous paragraph will apply equally well to either device if read with the reference characters thus modified.

The low speed drum 54 and the high speed drum 54 are arranged to run at the relative of positively returning the shaft to its normal position and may be driven at any suitable speed. 7

The application of current to the clutch .magnet for the high speed drum which is 10 provided to carry the brushes over terminals by groups. of ten is controlled indirectly by impulses created by the interruption of the circuit extending through the plate 71, brush 72, brush supporting arm 73, supporting member 74, brush supporting arm 75,brush 76 and the interrupter 77, by said interrupter. These pulsations are transmitted to the setting mechanism (not shown) which may act through a sequence 'switch, relays or in any desired manner, to shift the supply of current at the desired moment to the clutch magnet of the low speed pulley or to cut it off altogether.

Current for the clutch magnet of the low speed drum which is provided to carry the brushes oveh the stationary terminals during units selection is controlled in the same man.-

ner"with the exception that the arm 78,

brush 79 and interrupter 80 are substituted during units selection and the arm 78, brush 79 and the interrupter 81 are substituted during the brush selecting travel for the corresponding parts previously mentioned.

" secured to the brush shaft as shown in Fig. 2. These arms each carry a spring wiper 90 The arms 7 3, '75 and 78' are rigidly and conv ductively secured to the member 74 which in turn is rigidly but insulatively secured to thes'haft' in any desired -manner.

In- .practice', the "operation of the device 8 will preferably be as follows: the low-speed clutch will be operated tocause the elevation of the shaftduringbrush selection, the amount of travel prior to the actuation of the tripping "means being measured by the interrupter 81 and the coiiperatingpa-rts in the manner just described. The high speed clutchwill then beienergize d to' trail the brushes'of the selected set over the terminals r by tensand the low speed clutch will be energi zedtocontinue the travel by-units 'to the desired terminals, the two latter operations being governed through the agency of p the 'in'terrupters 77 and 80,- respectively, in

the manner previously described. .When the desired terminals are reached,

I the upward travel of the shaft will be ar- Tested by the denergization ofthe clutch magnet, the shaft being held in its elevated position by the armature release pawl 82- en- 'gaging thejra ck 83 on the shaft 8. This pawl is pivotally mounted at 84, and is urgedtow ard thev rack by the spring '85. When i release is desired, the electromagnet 86 is energized, retracting the armature pawl 82 we claim 1s:

ably returned by power, current being supplied to the clutch magnet at this time. Upon the approach to normal of the brush shaft, the brush 79 engages the contact plate 92, thus completing a circuit for'the sequence switch or other, device, whereby the circuit for the down-drive clutch magnet isinterrupted. This return drive not only renders current to the return drive clutch magnet may be controlled by a sequence switch, relays or'in any desired manner. When the brush shaft returns to its home position the actuated brush set is returned to its normal inoperative position by the engagement of the lever 32 with the frame member 10,

This causes the insulating rollers 30 to engage the cam surfaces 33 on the arms 17 and 18,,thus forcing the brushes to their inactive position as shown in Fig. 3.

The brush shaft is hollow and has the circuit wires 86, 87. and 88 located therein; branches. from each of these wires are eX tended to the soldering terminals 66 of the corresponding brushes of the several sets,

'thus connecting the corresponding brushes of all the sets in multiple. Another branch from each of theselconductors is secured to one of the arms 89 rigidly but insulatively adapted to slidably engage one of the insulated conducting plates 9l.respectively, thus providing an improved means whereby the telephone circuit may be extended to I the: .brushes, and the corresponding brushes con-v nected in multiple.

AS it is obvious that the mecha nism disclosed above would operate equally. well in I .any position and that changes might. be

made therein without departing from the spirit of our invention, we wish it understood that We are not to be restricted to the specific arrangement herein shown and de# scribed, which is merely illustrative, but desireto be limited merely by the-scope of the appended claims. i

' Havingthus'described, our invention what ll-In aswitch, shaft, a plurality of brushes resiliently sea longitudinally movable cured thereto,'means for normally retaining said'brushes in inoperative position, and a rotatable device common to said brushes whereby said brushes maybe selectively trippe Q 2. In a switch, a longitudinally movable shaft, a plurality of sets. of brushes, resilient arms uniting said brushes to said shaft,

means for laterally displacing the brushes of each set whereby said brushes are ren- .130

' ,and the shaft isreleasedand may be re- 8 .turned tonormal by gnavity but is prefer- 3. In a switch, a support, a plurality of sets of brushes resiliently secured thereto,

controlling means normally separating the brushes of each set from each other to render the set inoperative, and a tripping device common to said sets for selectively actuating said controlling means to release a desired set of brushes.

In a switch, an axially movable support, a plurality of sets of resiliently supported brushes secured thereto, a controlling means for each set normally holding the said brushes to said support, a controlling lever individual to each set for normally spacing said pairs to inoperative position, a rotatable trip rod parallel to said shaft, and means whereby said rod may be rotated during the movement of said shaft to selectively release one of said brush sets.

6. In an automatic switch, a plurality of rows of stationary terminals, a plurality of sets of movable brushes engagable therewith, resilient' supporting means for said brushes, brush-ccntrolling means for laterally flexing said supporting means whereby said brushes are caused to occupy an inoperative position between said stationary terminal rows, and a rotatable tripping device *common to said brushes whereby said brush sets may be selectively released;

7. In an automatic switch, a shaft, a row of stationary terminals divided into a plurality of sections, a correspondingplurality of sets of brushes resiliently secured to said shaft, a controlling means individual to eachv set for normally retaining said brushes in inoperative position, a trip rod parallel to said shaft, means for operating said rod to effect engagement with one of said controlling means whereby a predetermined brush set may be rendered active, and means for moving said shaft longitudinally to cause the selected brush set to traverse the stationary terminals in its respective section.

8. In a switch, a longitudinally movable shaft, a plurality of brushes resiliently secured thereto, a trip rod parallel to' said shaft, a plurality. of trip fingers, one for each brush. on said rod, said fingers being positioned at progressively increasing distances from the normal positions of the brush sets and in inoperative relation thereto, and means whereby said rod may be momentarily displaced during the longitudinal movement of said shaft to render active a predetermined brush. .i

9. In an automatic switch, a' shaft, a plurality of sets of brushes resiliently secured thereto-means for causing a plurality of stages of longitudinal movement of said shaft, controlling devices, one for each set,

whereby the brushes thereof are normally.

maintained inactive, a trip rod substantially parallel to said shaft, a plurality of trip fingers on said rod, and means for moving said rod during the preliminary movement of said shaft to cause operative engagement of one of said trip fingers with the controlling device of a desired brush set.

10. In an automatic switch, a brush shaft, a plurality of sets of brushes resiliently secured thereto, means for causing a plurality of stages of longitudinal movement of said shaft, controlling levers, one for each set, whereby the brushes thereof are normally maintained inactive, a rotatable trip rod, trip fingers on said rod, one for each lever, but normally out of the line of movement thereof, andmeans whereby said fingers may be moved during the preliminary movement of said shaft to intercept the line of travel of the controlling levers of said brush sets and means for timing the movement of said rod so as to release the brushes of a preby said rod may be momentarily rotated dur ing the movement of said shaft to effect operative engagement of a trip finger with the controlling lever of a predetermined brush set.

12. In an automatic switch, a longitudi nally movable shaft, a plurality of normally inactive brush sets resilientlysecured there-.

rality of sets of'brushes resiliently secured thereto, a controlling device for each set normally maintaining said brushes in inop-f erative position, a rotatable trip rod parallel to saidishaft, trip fingers ons'aid rod for said controlling devices, respectively,- normally arranged out of the lineof travel thereof, means "for simultaneously moving said trip fingers into said line of travel, means for retaining one of said fingers in the line of travel. of the controlling device of a predetermined set to trip the, same and whereby the remaining trip fingers pass through the line of travel of their respective levers to the opposite side thereof.

14. In a switch, a movable support, a plurality of sets of brushes resiliently secured thereto, a controlling device for each set normally maintaining said brushes in inoperative position, a trip lug on each "controlling device, a rotatable trip rod, an outwardly projecting finger on said rod for set of brushes Will be tripped to operative position. a

In Witness whereof, We hereunto subscribe our names this 27th day of November A. D., 1912. 1

EDWARD B. CRAFT. JOHN N. REYNOLDS.

, Witnesses:

O. D.'M. GUTHE, W. F. HOFFMAN. 

